The Threat From Russia: Can Putin Be Stopped?

On June 5 Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Anne Applebaum and Michael McFaul will discuss the political atmosphere between Vladimir Putin and the West.

Tuesday June 5 2018, 7PM — Central Hall Westminster

Is Vladimir Putin the most powerful – and dangerous – man in the world? With Putin in the Kremlin, we have returned to an era where former Russian spies are mysteriously poisoned on British soil and where Russia feels emboldened to roll its tanks into an eastern European state. The Kremlin uses deadly force to wipe out opponents and stifle dissent at home, while overseas it props up Bashar al-Assad, the butcher of Damascus, who slaughters civilians with barrel bombs and chemical weapons. And that’s not to mention Moscow’s alleged meddling in the US election, which may have played a decisive role in the rise of Donald Trump. Tensions have increased so much in recent months that the UN secretary general António Guterres has warned of a ‘full-blown military escalation’ between Russia and the West.

So what should we do? Some argue that the West has been appeasing Russia for too long, and that it’s finally time to get tough. Putin’s crimes in Syria and Ukraine – and allegedly on the streets of Salisbury – can’t be allowed to go unchecked, so we need to start ramping up the military pressure. Others claim, however, that the West is culpable for the new Cold War. After all, it was NATO’s decision to expand eastwards and take in former Soviet states that kick-started this new era of conflict. So should we instead show some humility and try to rebuild trust and fresh channels of communication with Russia?

And what about the billions of pounds of dirty Russian money being laundered through the London property market and financial system? Much of Putin’s power stems from Russia’s kleptocratic economy, where his cronies control vast swathes of the nation’s wealth and hoard it overseas. By allowing the oligarchs to stash their cash in the City, are we not bolstering Putin’s grip on power?

On Tuesday 5th June, Intelligence Squared are bringing together some of the world’s top Russia experts, including the exiled dissident who was once the country’s richest man and a former US Ambassador to Russia, to examine the West’s complicated relationship with Russia and what course of action we should take.

Introducing the panel:

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Founder of Open Russia, a movement committed to promoting democratic rule in Russia. Khodorkovsky was head of YUKOS, Russia’s largest private oil firm, where he established international management codes of practice and substantially increased production. At a televised meeting with President Putin in early 2003, he criticised endemic corruption. He was later arrested and jailed on charges of tax evasion and fraud, charges which he denied and vigorously defended. He was sentenced to fourteen years in prison, declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, and finally released in December 2013. Today, Khodorkovsky advocates an alternative vision for Russia: a strong and just state, committed to observing human rights, free and fair elections, and the rule of law.

Anne Applebaum

Columnist for the Washington Post and Pulitzer prize-winning historian. She is a Visiting Professor of Practice at the London School of Economics, where she runs a programme on disinformation and 21st century propaganda. She is the author of several books, including Gulag: A History. Her latest book is Red Famine, Stalin’s War on Ukraine, which won the 2018 Lionel Gelber Prize, a literary award for the world’s best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs.

Michael McFaul

US Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, and former special assistant to President Obama and senior director of Russian and Eurasian affairs on the US National Security Council. He is now a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. He is the author of From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia.

Chair

Nick Robinson

Presenter on Radio 4’s Today programme and former BBC political editor.